


A Very Long Holiday

by I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning



Series: The Dark Side of the Force is the One Ring by Another Name [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Lord of the Rings Conversations Fit Star Wars People Shockingly Well, Simple Self Indulgence on the Author's Part, The Dark Side is like the One Ring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 05:39:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13381323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning/pseuds/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
Summary: Frodo is played by Obi-Wan again. Bilbo, by Qui-Gon.Again the Dark Side and the One Ring had uncanny similarities while I was reading Fellowship, so I had to type again.





	A Very Long Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, the text- with a few obvious alterations- is straight from the novel.

 

It was generally believed the joke was in very bad taste.

The party guests were all quite verbal about it, and comforting themselves with complaints and victuals.

Obi-Wan was the only one who hadn't said a word. For some time he had sat silently beside Qui-Gon's empty chair, and ignored all remarks and questions. He'd known what was coming, thought the ruckus amusing, but at the same time he felt deeply troubled.

He realized suddenly he loved the old Hobbit dearly.

 

* * *

 

It should have been easy to slip out, but of course the Wizard prevented it. Qui-Gon loved him dearly, but he could be so  _ meddlesome. _

“I've made up my mind. I want to see mountains again—  _ mountains.  _ And then find somewhere I can rest in peace and quiet without a lot of relatives prying around with a string of confounded visitors hanging on the bell. I might find somewhere I can finish my book. I've found an ending for it:  _ And he lived happily ever after to the end of his days. _ ”

The Wizard laughed. “And I hope he will.”  
“You'll keep an eye on Obi-Wan, won't you?”

“Yes, I will. Two eyes, as often as I can spare them.”

Qui-Gon smiled, a bit wistfully. “He would come with me if I asked him, in fact, he offered to once, just before the party, but he doesn't really want to, yet. I want to see the wild country again before I die, and the mountains, but he's still in love with the Order, with the woods and fields and little rivers. He ought to be comfortable here. I am leaving everything to him, of course. I hope he will be happy, once he gets used to living on his own.” Qui-Gon gave a nod. “It's time he be his own master now.”

 

* * *

 

By the time Obi-Wan returned home, Qui-Gon had left.

Over the next decade, Obi-Wan discovered it was a difficult thing, to have such a hole left in his life and heart, and the gift of not visibly aging, apparently passed down from Qui-Gon, didn't help.

Every year he threw another party for Qui-Gon's birthday, deflecting the worries of those around him who suggested it might not be healthy.

Health was something Obi-Wan was wondering whether applied to him, or ever would.

Yes, he  _ looked  _ just out of his tweens, when really he was in his stable fifties, but there was something off about his days. It hadn't been noticeable at first, but now it was growing. A restlessness in his feet. A discontent in his heart. And dreams at night of mountains he'd never seen.

And there were days he was certain the envelope on the mantle was staring at him.

 

* * *

 

It was so much worse than Obi-Wan had thought.

_ Why  _ couldn't the Ring have been a trinket?

This dark force of destruction, the more the Wizard spoke, the more it spoke a death knell in Obi-Wan's heart.

_ This is what Qui-Gon fled from. Not the Order. Not the boredom— he wanted peace and quiet to finish his book. No. He ran from the knowledge something was wrong. _

And now it was Obi-Wan, trapped alone with it.

“You say the Ring is dangerous, but in what ways?” Obi-Wan specified.

His friend looked grim. “Many ways. It is more powerful than I thought at first, so powerful it would utterly overcome any mortal who possessed it—  _ it  _ would possess  _ him.  _ A mortal, Obi-Wan, who keeps one of the Great Rings will not die, but he does not grow or attain more life. He merely continues until at last every minute is a weariness.”

_ Qui-Gon,  _ Obi-Wan thought in grief. And, already beginning to manifest...  _ Me. _

“Sooner or later— later if he is strong and of good meaning to begin with, but neither the strength or good purpose will last— sooner or later, the dark power will overpower him.”

Obi-Wan searched for words, but all he could do was stare at the envelope that hid the Ring. “How long have you known this?” he asked at last. “And how much did Qui-Gon know?”

“Qui-Gon knew no more than he told you, I am sure. He certainly would never have passed on anything he thought would be a danger, though I promised him I would look after you. He thought the dark band was beautiful, and very useful in time of need, and if anything was wrong, he thought it was himself. He did not suspect the darkness itself was to blame.”

Obi-Wan felt a chill descend over him. “How long have  _ you  _ known?” he repeated.

“ _ Known _ ? I still do not  _ know,  _ one might say. But I no longer doubt my guess. When did I  _ first  _ begin to guess? It was in the year the White Council drove the dark power out of Mirkwood, just before the Battle of Five Armies, that Qui-Gon found the Darkness. A shadow fell on my heart then, though I did not know what I feared.”

Obi-Wan understood the feeling. The nameless dread had only built through the years, and he began to fear it would never leave.

The wizard continued, apparently not seeing the nausea that was beginning to take hold of Obi-Wan's soul. “I told Qui-Gon such rings were better left unused, but he resented it, grew angry and refused to listen to me. There was little more I could do— I could not take it from him. I could only watch and wait.”

“There is no permanent harm done, is there?” Obi-Wan pleaded. “He will find his longed-for peace?”

The wizard's expression gentled. “He began to feel better almost at once when he left the Darkness behind.”

Obi-Wan gave a nod, more to himself than his companion.

Qui-Gon was safe and happy.

That's all that mattered.

Obi-Wan would do whatever needed to be done to protect others from this dark force...

_ As long as Qui-Gon is where he needs to be, I will be well. _

So he gave the other a smile, and prompted him to continue his tale.

 

 


End file.
